Battle of Honey Springs

Martins Dukurs (born 31 March 1984) is a former Latvian skeleton racer, currently a coach, who has competed since 1998. He is a six-time world champion in men's skeleton,[2] a double Olympic silver winner (at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014), and the athlete with the most World Cup titles with a total of 11, having won eight consecutive titles between 2010 and 2017, plus another three consecutive titles between 2020 and 2022.

Career

Dukurs on a 2014 Latvian stamp

Dukurs finished seventh in the men's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and sixth in the men's skeleton event at the 2007 FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz. He won the gold medal in the men's event at the 2011 FIBT World Championships, 2012 FIBT World Championships, 2015 FIBT World Championships, 2016 FIBT World Championships and 2017 FIBT World Championships.

Martins won the overall World Cup for the 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 season, 2016–17 season and 2019–20 season.

At the end of the 2019–20 Skeleton World Cup season, he had 54 World Cup race victories.

His older brother Tomass is also a skeleton racer. Both he and his brother qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2014 Winter Olympics. In 2010 Martins Dukurs was decorated with the Order of the Three Stars.[3]

In November 2017, Sochi gold medalist Alexander Tretiakov was disqualified by the IOC, and his medal stripped from him; however, a decision on whether Martins Dukurs would be granted a gold medal was not made by the IBSF. He would have been the first-ever Latvian athlete to win gold at the Winter Olympics. However, Tretiakov would appeal against his disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who overturned his disqualification and reinstated his gold medal.

On 19 January 2018, Martins was retroactively disqualified from the 2018 St. Moritz World Cup for having a too-hard sled.[4]

Martins and Tomass' father, Dainis Dukurs, is a former bobsleigh brakeman, former manager of the Sigulda sledding track, sled designer, and coach of the Latvian skeleton team.[5]

In August 2022, Dukurs was appointed a performance coach for the British national team.[6]

Career results

Skeleton World Cup

Season Place Points 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2004–05 19th 139 WIN
37
ALT
20
IGL
SIG
14
CES
10
STM
19
LPL
13
2005–06 20th 151 CAL
26
LPL
10
IGL
20
SIG
20
KON
16
STM
14
ALT
19
2006–07 12th 255 CAL
18
PKC
23
LPL
24
NAG
15
IGL
9
CES
WIN
3
KON
5
2007–08 5th 1369 CAL
7
PKC
11
LPL
4
CES1
7
CES2
7
STM
6
KON
11
WIN
1
2008–09 6th 1282 WIN
3
ALT
2
IGL
3
KON
4
STM
17
WIN
12
PKC
11
LKP
11
2009–10 1st 1694 PKC
1
LKP
3
CES
2
WIN
1
ALT
5
KON
1
STM
3
IGL
1
2010–11 1st 1719 WHI
5
CAL
1
PKC
3
LKP
2
IGL
1
WIN
1
STM
1
CES
1
2011–12 1st 1751 IGL
1
LPL
1
WIN
1
ALT
1
KON
6
STM
1
WHI
1
CAL
1
2012–13 1st 2010 LKP
1
PKC
1
WHI
2
WIN
1
LPL
1
ALT
1
KON
1
IGL
1
SOC
1
2013–14 1st 1720 CAL
1
PKC
2
LKP
8
WIN
1
STM1
1
STM2
1
IGL
1
KON
1
2014–15 1st 1770 LKP
1
CAL
1
ALT
1
KON
2
STM
1
LPL
1
IGL
1
SOC
2
2015–16 1st 1785 ALT
1
WIN
1
KON1
1
LPL
1
PAC
1
WHI
1
STM
2
KON2
1
2016–17 1st 1662 WHI
4
LPL
5
ALT
2
WIN
1
STM
1
KON
6
IGL
1
PYE
1
2017–18 4th 1440 LPL
1
PAC
2
WHI
6
WIN
2
IGL
1
ALT
5
STM
DSQ
KON
2
2018–19 3rd 1533 SIG
2
WIN
7
ALT
7
IGL
1
STM
8
LPL
2
CAL1
3
CAL2
4
2019–20 1st 1665 LKP1
2
LKP1
2
WIN
4
PAC
2
IGL
1
KON
7
STM
1
SIG
1
2020–21 1st 1456 SIG1
1
SIG2
1
IGL1
1
IGL2
1
WIN
2
STM
2
KON
11
IGL3
2021–22 1st 1623 IGL1
2
IGL2
11
ALT1
3
WIN1
4
ALT2
1
SIG
3
WIN2
1
STM
1

References

  1. ^ "Martins Dukurs". SR/Olympics. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Martins Dukurs becomes skeleton world champion for 6th time". eng.lsm.lv. Latvian Public Broadcasting. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Starkovam un olimpiskajiem medaļniekiem — Triju Zvaigžņu ordeņi" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Yun chalks up a Korean first with World Cup skeleton title". Reuters. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Martins Dukurs – 2014 Winter Olympics – Olympic Athletes – Sochi, Russia". espn.go.com. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  6. ^ Skeleton legend Dukurs appointed Britain's performance coach

External links

Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Latvia
Vancouver 2010
Succeeded by